


A Liking Sort of Love

by BoyGirlBothNoneImTheUniverse



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Crack, Cussing, F/M, High School AU, I do what I want, M/M, all the teams are people, alot of crack, and the freakiness of Chicago/Detroit/Vancouver, chicago is such a whore, cracktastic, get some detroit, hahahaha, i ship them all, its fine in the beginning then it starts getting dirty, lol, watch out for Flyers/Penguins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 12:59:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoyGirlBothNoneImTheUniverse/pseuds/BoyGirlBothNoneImTheUniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lumbus is dating Ed and it's breaking LA's heart. It was going to be the worst month ever. LA regrets all decisions made after this stated fact.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Liking Sort of Love

**Author's Note:**

> ksdljhfjksdhgkjhsh
> 
> thank you to the people who payed attention on tumblr and basically just said YES. i appreciated it beyond belief.
> 
> HAHAHA SO MUCH CRACK IDEK

This month was turning into a fucking shit show and it was only the second of the month.

Kings frowned and felt his glare intensify as Ed kissed Lumbus' hand. Lumbus giggled and grinned at Ed, his cheeks a gorgeous pink.

Kings huffed and turned his head in the opposite direction. Chris raised her eyebrow, looking up from her nail inspection.

"You okay there, Layne?"

Kings huffed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Chris looked over Kings' shoulder and snorted before going back to her nails. Kings rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to look back over at Lumbus and stupid Ed.

"You don't have to act so jealous," Phil mumbled, chewing on his sandwich.

"I'm not jealous," Kings stated, using his fork to push around his corn.

"Hey stupid, you're glaring at them," Phil said as he tore off another bite.

He heard the small hiss Penny let out next to him.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Phil narrowed his eyes and took another bite, not even finished with chewing the rest in his mouth. "Whf?"

Penny glared. Kings snorted when he saw Phil cry out in shock when Penny shifted and kicked him in the shin.

"Calm down, Pens," Chris said, her eyes never leaving her nails.

"It's not my fault he's an uncouth Neanderthal," Penny states, distaste coloring her voice.

"You wanna say that to my face?" Phil asked, his voice coming out in a growl.

"I just did you stupid bully!" Penny screeched, her face flushing slightly.

"I-" Phil started, only to be slapped upside the head.

"Shut up, both of you."

Kings inclined his head toward Bobbi, but said nothing.

Bobbi pushed Chris to the aside, getting a glare in return, as she sat down.

"Has anyone seen, Marcel?" Bobbi asked, adjusting her backpack.

Penny and Chris shared a look.

"No," Penny finally replied. "Why?"

"I thought we could hang out after school, you know? Like old times!" Bobbi said enthusiastically.

Kings felt a frown start to form, so he quickly turned away.

"Bobbi, you guys broke up a year ago. From all the shouting that went down, we all assumed it was pretty bad. Are you sure you wanna go down this road?" Chris asked her, her voice soft.

Kings turned back to watch Bobbi bite her lip.

"I- I know we had a bad break up. He said some things and I said some things, but does that mean we have to stop being friends?"

Kings tuned out the girls as they continued on. He glanced around the cafeteria, taking in the kids around him.

Ed and Lumbus were now surrounded by Ed's friends, Tony, Marcel, William, and Oliver. Tony was standing awkwardly to the side of the group, uncomfortable around Marcel. Who wouldn't be? The guy broke Tony's leg. Granted, it was on accident, but Kings remembers seeing bone. The memory wasn't worth bringing up again. Marcel took no notice of Tony, talking animatedly with Oliver and Ed. Oliver stood there, nodding at whatever Marcel was saying, ignoring Tony as well.

He wasn't sure where Cally was, but he can take a guess that wherever she is, she's macking on Andrew. She wouldn't be around Ed at school anyway, with how those two fought in private, Kings would guarantee that they most likely wouldn't hold back, even if they were in public. He scrunched up his nose at the thought of Andrew. Layne didn't particularly like Andrew Duke. He was a little to cocky for his taste.

He watched Danny across the room, using a straw to shoot spit balls at Conney. The red-haired girl glared at the boy and picked up her tray. She strutted out of the cafeteria, her whole body rigid. Kings knew that if Chris noticed those two, she'd pounce on Danny, giving him a beating.

Kings noticed Wanda watching the interaction, playing with some type of beaker. Wanda Capis had a knack for making things explode in science class, and in math class for that matter. Next to her was Nel and Nick. No one quite knew if the two were dating, or if they were in an epic battle of hatred. It was high school after all, anything was possible. The two were now engaged in a staring contest. Kings remembers Phil interrupting a contest in their freshmen year. It had ended with Nel throwing her high heel at him.

Vicky Conners and Lil Coyns were hunched over a couple of tables away from Kings, whispering back and forth. Vicky pulled her head up, her gaze was incredulous as she stared at Lil. Lil shook her head and pointed at something on the table. Kings didn't want to know.

Dilon was in a huge group of people. From what Kings could see, he was surrounded by Santana, Nikolas, Nate and Steve. Dilon always seemed to be the center of attention; whether it was good attention or bad though was decided by how he felt that day.

Florencia and Becky were hanging off William. William had gone to school with them in elementary school, but his parents had taken him out of public and into private. He was back now, as obnoxious as ever. Kings could understand why the girls thought he was cute, you would too with the eyebrows William sported, but William was far to obnoxious for Kings to take seriously.

Almost missing him, his eyes locked onto Mikey. Mikey sat in the corner of the cafeteria, people watching. He was doing a lot better job than Kings, now that he thought about it. Kings had almost missed Mikey completely.

"Hey, Kings. Let's go!" Bobbi shook his shoulder rather violently, dislodging his fork out of his hand.

"Yeah," he started, "I'm coming."

He glanced once more toward Ed and Lumbus. Lumbus was smiling sweetly at Ed, his eyes sparkling. Kings turned and dumped his tray, following his friends out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kings wasn't sure when he started to fall for Collin Lumbus. Collin had come to his town the summer before Kings started third grade. The little blond boy with pretty blue eyes had caught his attention immediately. He remembers Collin having a silver pin wheel with him. He had been sitting under a tree at a park that Kings' parents frequented. He'd been all happy and cheerful, some thing as simple as the wind blowing his pin wheel made him beyond joyful.

Kings had gone up to the boy, having moved to town only a year earlier. He had walked up to Collin, waving his little hand in greeting. Collin had looked up, and after assessing him for a moment, smiled a gap toothed grin.

"Hi," Collin had said. "My names Collin Lumbus! What's yours?"

Kings had frozen for a second. Collin just seemed so bright. He had eventually fumbled out a mangled, "Layne A-Adams Kings."

Collin's brow furrowed before he nodded. "Okay! I'm gonna call you LA, okay? You can call me Lumbus!"

Kings had grinned and nodded, before sitting down and blowing at the pin wheel. Lumbus and he had sat underneath the tree, blowing the pin wheel and laughing.

They had stayed close friends all the way up until freshmen year. It wasn't that they still weren't friends. The fact of the matter was, that Lumbus had met Ed Ollie, a boy with dark hair and eyes, that had some weird attachment to the colors orange and blue. Lumbus had been smitten immediately. Pretty soon, Lumbus was following Ed around, laughing like he thought Ed was the greatest person in the world. Soon enough, Lumbus no longer spent time with him in school.

They still had their tree though. They met everyday after school, and no matter how taken Lumbus was with Ed, it was always going to be their tree. Until it wasn't.

It was the middle of last year, sophomore year, that Kings had headed to their tree, scarf around his neck and white puffs of air caressing his face. He'd turned the corner, grin already in place, when he spotted Lumbus. Lumbus wasn't alone though, oh no, he was with Ed Ollie.

Kings couldn't help the feeling of betrayal and confusion. What was Ed doing at their tree? He had slowly tip-toed closer, hoping to hear what they were talking about.

"So I- um... I w-wanted to know if you wanted to go out with me. You know, like, on a date?" Lumbus had stuttered out, his eyes glued to Ed.

Ed had laughed, delighted. "Of course! And where should we meet?"

Lumbus' face was pink, whether it was from the cold of winter or from being with Ed, Kings wasn't sure.

"Oh, um. Here. At o-our tree. S-Say, tomorrow at five?"

Ed had grinned and nodded. "Well look at you! Of course, how could I say no!"

Kings had left.

When he had gone to school the next day, Lumbus stuck close to Ed, never meeting Kings' eye. When it became clear that Lumbus would tell him hello in the halls, but never anything else, Kings decided enough was enough.

He stopped hanging out with Lumbus and the rest of his friends. He stopped responding to LA, taking on his last name as a nickname instead. At the end of sophomore year, he sat alone at a lunch table when a perky brunnet named Chris sat beside him. His new friends had slowly joined in at the beginning of junior year; Phil Street, a red-head with poor manners, Penny Burgens, a quiet, firecracker with stunning green eyes, Bobbi, a small girl with an obsession with yellow things, and Marcel, a quarter-French boy who had a thing for Bobbi (though, that had ended badly, let him tell you).

They had been his close friend since then. Though, none of them knew of his affection for Lumbus. They knew they were once close, but not the Kings had fallen in love with Lumbus over the years. He didn't plan for any of them to find out either.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kings side eyed Wanda as he helped her with her books. They were both headed to science, Wanda's favorite, and she had a particularly large amount of books with her. She herself was caring several beakers with weird liquids. She was grinning rather oddly, humming and mumbling something that definitely wasn't english. Kings wondered where she even learned another language.

They rounded a corner and Kings was surprised to see Lumbus and Ed arguing by their lockers. Lumbus was angry, glaring at Ed and shaking his head. Ed kept nodding and rolling his eyes, like he was scolding Lumbus for something. He watch Lumbus huff and stomp away from Ed, not even closing his locker. Ed ran his hand through his hair, closed Lumbus' locker, and headed off in the other direction.

Kings looked down the hall Lumbus has raged down, weighing his options. Making a quick decisions, he dropped the books into Wanda's surprised arms. He raced after Lumbus, ignoring Wanda's mixture of Russian and English curses.

He caught up to Lumbus, who was at the end of the next hall. He was staring out of the big window, looking at the track field on the hill.

"Hey, Collin," Kings said, walking up to stand next to him.

Lumbus looked at him in surprise. His eyes were watery and red.

"Oh! Um, hi L-Kings," he whispered in reply, his attention shifting back toward the window.

Kings ignored the tardy bell and shifted closer to Lumbus. "So," he said, "what just happened back there?"

"What?"

"I saw you with Ed. You seemed pretty upset, Collin," Kings said, trying to will Lumbus to look at him.

"Oh. W-We just had an argument is all. He'll get over it by tomorrow."

Kings stayed next to Lumbus, just basking in his presence, before nodding his head slightly and saying, "Okay. Just, if you need to talk? I'm here. We better head to class, Collin. See you later, yeah?"

Collin turned to him, blinking up at him a couple of times before he nodded slightly. Figuring that was it, Kings turned to walk away beating himself up for not saying something different. Some thing that would've made Lumbus smile and be his friend again. He was almost around the hall corner when he heard Lumbus yell.

"Kings!"

Kings stopped and turned, Lumbus still at the other end. He smiled slightly and replied, "Yeah, Collin?"

Lumbus stayed silent for a moment before grinning widely, tears no longer in his eyes. "It's Lumbus."

Kings felt his smiled widen, like it might cover his whole face. "Lumbus, huh?

Lumbus nodded, grin still in place. Good to know, King thought as he turned the corner and Lumbus left his sight.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day Kings is watching Penny trying to throw goldfish crackers into Chris' exposed chest.

"You're such a slut," Penny stated, taking aim.

"I like my shirt, Ms. Penguin Sweater," Chris replied, pushing her chest out slightly.

"There's nothing wrong with penguins; fuck," she cursed as she just missed, the goldfish cracker falling short.

"Penguins are stupid," Phil sad as he rolled his eyes.

Penny glared at him, her lips pursed. "Nobody asked you, Phillip."

Phil rolled his eyes and said in a mocking tone, "Nobody asked you, Phil."

Penny's lips curled up, like she was going to growl, but instead she turned away from Phil, taking another cracker and aiming it at Chris' chest once again. Kings let out a cheer with the rest of his friends when it landed right in the middle of Chris' chest. Chris just snorted and picked the cracker up, popping it into her mouth.

"Did you really just eat something off your boobs?" Bobbi asked.

"She's put plenty of other things in her mouth," Phil said, using his corn dog to point at Chris.

Chris scoffed and shrugged. "At least I get some."

Kings snorted and was going to throw his opinion in when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Lumbus behind him, shuffling awkwardly.

"Lumbus?"

"Hey, Kings. Do you think I could. Maybe sit with you guys?"

Kings looked past Lumbus' shoulder, looking at his usual table. He spotted Tony talking animatedly to a bored looking Ed. "Uh, yeah. Sure." He moved over, providing space between himself and Penny.

Lumbus smiled nervously at him, situating himself close to Kings. Kings smiled, delighted to have Lumbus near him again. The moment was broken when Phil choked on his corn dog, pieces flying across the table.

"Dude!" Bobbi exclaimed, leaning back and laughing.

Phil coughed loudly, his face turning red. Kings was slightly surprised when Penny offered her milk, her expression blank, but it soon dropped from his mind when he registered Lumbus giggling beside him.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I don't really know any of your names," Lumbus stated after his giggling fit was done.

Penny shrugged, smiling slightly. "Didn't expect you to. I legit haven't seen you around since eighth grade. I haven't had a class with you since seventh. I'm Penny, Penny Burgens."

Lumbus grinned, obviously happy that Penny was so easily accepting. "Hi, Penny."

"I'm Bobbi Bojan! Sports star extraordinaire!" Bobbi grinned, reaching her hand out for Lumbus to shake.

Phil snorted and shook his head. "We have gym together."

Lumbus' smile dimmed slightly, but he nodded anyway. "Hi, Phil."

Phil just grunted in response. Chris gave him a look before smirking at Lumbus. "Hey, Kid. I'm Christine Chayton. We had AP Calculus together last year?"

Lumbus nodded. "Nice to see you again, Christine."

"Please, it's just Chris," Chris replied, her smirk becoming softer.

"Yeah, I'm the only one that gets to call her, Christine," Kings grinned.

Chris snorted, standing up from her seat. "Yeah, right. I have to go talk to Mikey about something. Catch you later, boo?"

Kings nodded and let Chris kiss his cheek. "Later, Chris."

Chris waved, heading out of the cafeteria. Kings turned his attention to Lumbus, who was now staring down at the table. "Hey, you okay?"

Lumbus looked up at him, startled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... not feeling well."

"Oh," Kings said. "Maybe you should go to the nurse?"

Lumbus nodded once before standing up. "Yeah, I'm gonna go do that. I'll, uh, see you tomorrow."

Kings waved even though Lumbus' back was to him. He sighed when Lumbus was out of view. He felt bad that Lumbus was feeling sick. He had been so excited to spend some time with him and some stupid flu bug had to attack him. A thought suddenly occurred to him. What if Lumbus wasn't actually sick, but missing Ed? Afterall, Ed was his boyfriend. Kings was just his ex-friend.

Kings turned so he was facing the right direction and found his remaining friends staring at him. "What?" he asked, suddenly depressed by his new thoughts.

Bobbi just grinned, picking up her tray and leaving. Phil and Penny exchanged a look, and what?, since when did those to have looks?

"So, I'm gonna go. Catch you guys later," Penny said, taking her lunchbox with her.

"See," Phil started once Penny had left, "we're not blind."

"What?"

"All you do is stare at him, dude," Phil stated simply, as blunt as ever. "We know you like him. None of us care."

Kings wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just blinked and nodded. "O...kay?"

"Right then, nice chat," Phil said, standing up. He stole Kings' untouched corn dog from his tray and left the cafeteria, chewing with his mouth open.

Kings just stared after him. What just happened?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kings shrugged his backpack off in frustration. He let it drag slightly across the parking lot, because you know what, screw it, he hates it anyway, he'll treat it however he wants.

Kings sighed, his head hanging low. He hadn't seen Lumbus all day. He'd hoped to talk to him, maybe hang out like they use to. Maybe...Maybe make the tree their's again. He headed toward his car, ignoring the students rushing around him. Keeping this mindset, he almost missed the flash of red that was Lumbus.

He blinked, stopping dead in his tracks. He narrowed his eyes, suspicion taking over. Where the hell was he headed to so fast? Glancing in the direction of his car and finding none of his friends wanting to catch a ride, he jogged in the direction Lumbus had just went off in. He lost him for a second, but finally found him again and followed after him. Once they reached the back lot, Lumbus came to a stop in front of a car. He was breathing harshly, his face flushed, when he started talking loudly his arms flailing. A hand came out to touch Lumbus' chest, soothing him. Kings felt something cold run through his veins. It was Ed. Lumbus had been in a rush to see Ed. Lumbus had stilled at the hand, watching Ed with sad eyes. He nodded at something Ed said before going around and getting in the other side of the car.

Kings watched as they left the lot, neither of them noticing him watching. He but his lip. He'd thought that is Ed and Lumbus broke up, he would have a chance. He would be able to show Lumbus how much better for him he could be. He sighed sadly, heart in the verge of being broke once again. He headed back to his car, backpack still held tight in a fist.

He unlocked his car and finally looked up, Chris meeting his gaze.

"Where have you been?" She asked, eyeing him up and down.

Kings didn't respond, just unlocked the passenger side door and climbed in. He waited for Chris to get in and buckle up before leaving the school grounds. Kings stayed silent, as did Chris, for the first ten minutes. Suddenly though, Chris spoke up.

"So, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"I thought I would have a chance," Kings blurted out as they waited at a red light. "I thought that if I could show Lumbus that I was worth it, that he would pick me. Become my friend again."

Chris pursed her lip and stayed silent. She turned her head away, deep in thought. Kings sighed and parked in the nearest spot to their destination. They both got out and headed toward the gates in front of them. It was late March, a chill still in the air, but the park had opened early this year, due to a surprising heat wave in the middle of the month. Kings headed away from all the younger children, Chris behind them. They bypassed a fancy looking playground and finally came upon a pair of old rusty swings. Kings sat heavily, the swings creaking under his weight. Chris stood in front of him for a moment before sitting in the other one.

"It's been a while," Chris whispered.

"Yeah," Kings stated, staring at the yelling children in front of him.

After that fateful day in sophomore year, Chris and Kings had been inseparable. They would go to the park and swing and scream like the idiots they were. Once day, on this exact swing, Kings had kissed Chris. They had dated for only two weeks when Chris had broken it off. Exactly as they were now.

"I knew," Chris started, pushing her hair behind her ears, "that you didn't like me. Maybe as a friend, but... you'd always stare at you tree when we were here. Like you were waiting for somebody to show up."

Kings said nothing, staring at his tree in silence.

"Why don't you do that then," Chris stated suddenly, standing from the unmoving swing.

"What?" Kings asked, concentration broken.

"Show him! Show him you can still be the LA who was his best friend! Show him you care. Maybe, just maybe, he could start to see you as more after that."

Kings only took a second to let it sink in before he nodded slowly, a grin taking over his face. "Yeah...yeah!" He jumped up, throwing his arm around Chris' shoulder and bringing her close to him. "That's it! Thanks, Chris! You're a genius."

Chris laughed and wrapped her arm around his waist. "Come on, I have to get home. Think about it and tell me what you're gonna do tomorrow, okay?"

Kings nodded, delighted. He felt...

Hopeful.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kin-LA put his plan into action on Monday. He waited anxiously outside of the school for Ed and Lumbus to show up. He perked up as soon as he saw them, shoving each other lightly and laughing. He waited for them to walk past him before he walked up behind them.

He took a deep breath and said, "Hey guys."

Lumbus and Ed both jumped, but Lumbus let out a faint squeak.

"What the hell, Layne?" Ed asked, his hand on his chest.

"Kings!" Lumbus squeaked again, eyes wide.

"Sorry," K-LA said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to scare you. Just wanted to ask how your weekends were."

Ed gave him a surprised look, before it quickly took on an edge of suspicion. "It was fine, Layne."

"Please," LA said, avoiding Lumbus' gaze, "it's LA."

Ed's eyes widened, watching him carefully. LA just smiled, hoping he didn't look odd. After all, it wouldn't be good if Ed found out LA was after Lumbus. Lumbus was staring wide eyes at him, his mouth slightly open, though he hadn't uttered a sound.

"So," LA states, the silence becoming awkward, "what class do you guys have first?"

Ed and Lumbus share a look before they all start walking toward the junior's hall.

"I have gym," Ed says slowly, not even looking at LA.

"What about you, Lumbus?" LA asks, grinning at the shorter boy.

Lumbus opens his mouth to say something, but seemingly decided against it. He flushes and shrugs before reaching out and tugging on Ed's sleeve.

Ed glanced back and Lumbus and, with a sigh, says, "He has art."

LA frowned and glanced at Lumbus who had sped up his walking to now be tugging on Ed's shirt.

Ed shrugged, picking up his pace. "Sorry, LA. See you later."

LA watched them walk away until he registered the tardy bell ringing.

"Fuck!" he shouted as he rushed off toward his locker and to his first period class.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're pathetic. It's only been three days."

LA groaned again, not lifting his head from the cafeteria table. "Chris," he said, his voice muffled, "every time I try to talk to them, things get awkward. Lumbus hasn't said more than two words to me!"

Chris' hand fell on his head, patting him a couple of times, before she removed it. "I know, I know. It's all you talk about anymore."

LA picked up his head to glare at Chris, before sighing and looking around. "Where the fuck are Penny and Phil?"

Chris snorted, mumbling something about a closet before shaking her head. "How would I know?"

LA gave her a look, but didn't inquire any further. Chris usually told him everything. The only time she kept shit from him was when it was best he didn't know. He was gonna assume it was best he didn't fucking know.

"Stop cursing in your head," Chris said.

"Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. I'm just so frustrated!"

Chris nodded her head in sympathy, but said nothing at first, just eating her sandwich. She took a few more bites, seemingly unbothered by LA's staring before sighing and putting her sandwich down. "You're impossible," she says.

LA continues to stare at her, saying nothing.

She sighs again and rolls her eyes. "Look, I have some stuff to do at the ice cream shop. Ed loves that place, right? If you invite him, Lumbus will most certainly be there. We can all head over. Maybe me being there will help break the ice."

LA grinned.

Chris just rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LA sat next to Chris, awkwardly eating ice cream from a plastic bowl. Ed and Lumbus sat across from them, joking around and basically ignoring them.

Chris 'accidentally' hit him with her elbow when she lifted the plastic spoon to her mouth. She inclined her head toward Lumbus and coughed slightly. LA shrugged, not quite sure what to do.

He had asked Lumbus to go to the ice cream place with him. He was going to ask Ed first, but he figured he would ask Lumbus and see where it went. When Lumbus had stuttered, obviously panicking, LA had added that he wanted Ed to come along, as LA would be bringing Chris. Lumbus had been silent for a second, not saying anything before he sighed and agreed. LA barely had enough time to say goodbye before Lumbus had scurried off.

LA pouted as he took another bite of his ice cream. Lumbus hadn't said one word to him on the ride over, his attention constantly on Ed. He was about to just give up and call this plan a bust when Ed mentioned hockey.

"I think the Edmonton Oilers have a good chance of getting into the playoffs this year," Ed was explaining to Lumbus, who was paying close attention.

LA stared at Ed for a moment. He opened his mouth before he could stop himself and said, "Really?"

Ed stopped mid sentence and looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do."

"But... it's the Oliers. I mean, yeah, they have Hall, Eberle, Nuge, and a couple other awesome guys, but they aren't putting them to good use."

Ed stared at him blankly, like he said something incredibly offensive. "I didn't know you liked the Oilers."

LA scoffed. "I don't. I like the Kings."

Ed snorted. "A name thing?"

LA rolled his eyes and said, "No, they just happened to be the best."

Chris coughed next to him, obviously disagreeing.

"Oh, here we go," LA said, sighing.

"What? I think that maybe saying they are the best is a mild exaggeration. I mean, have you seen, oh, I don't know, the Chicago Blackhawks?"

Ed gave her a look and said, "Really?"

Chris scowled at him and replied, "Don't turn into Kings."

LA was going to defend himself when Lumbus spoke up.

"I like the Blue Jackets."

All three of them turned to stare at him, not saying a word.

"What?" Lumbus asked, blushing slightly. "Out goalies are awesome."

An awkward situation soon turned into a hockey argument to last all ages.

It was the most fun LA had ever had. Soon enough, they were all laughing, exchanging stories of pond hockey as kids and watching hockey as teenagers. Ed was on a hilarious story about two teams' twitter accounts when Chris nudged LA's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm going to the bathroom."

LA shrugged her, waving his hand. He laughed loudly as Ed started to wave his hands around, his voice getting excited as he talked more about the tweets the teams exchanged. Soon though, his story finished, all three of them catching their breath. It took a moment for LA to realize that Chris wasn't back yet.

He frowned, twisting around the shop to see if she was talking with someone. "You guys see if Chris came out of the bathroom?"

Ed shook his head, starting on another twitter related hockey story. Lumbus was still catching his breath from the previous one and instead of listening to Ed, started to look around with LA.

"No," he said, shrugging.

LA nodded and gestured toward the family bathroom. "I'm gonna go check on her."

Ed waved him off, much like LA had done to Chris, before grabbing Lumbus' attention away from LA and continuing on with his story.

LA stood from the booth and headed toward the bathroom. He was pleasantly surprised to find that once he got to know Ed, he was a pretty awesome dude. It actually made LA feel bad for liking Lumbus. He knocked on the bathroom door, but got no response. Shrugging, he tried the handle to see if it was locked. Finding that it wasn't, he decided to go ahead and use the bathroom before he went back to looking for Chris.

LA opened the door and stared.

In front of him was Chris, his best friend, giving a blow job to her supposed mortal enemy, Danny Warren.

Now, a lot of things ran through LA's mind. One of them was how she fit all of that into her mouth. Another was why they were doing this in fucking public. In a fucking kid ice cream shop. With the door unlocked. And wide open behind LA. LA's eyes widened and he quickly slammed the door shut locking himself and the other two inside.

The loud banging finally alerted them to his presence and Chris cursed, Danny's dick popping out of her mouth.

LA grimaced. Gross.

Danny quickly pulled up his pants, looking wide eyes and flushed. The two shifted next to each other, each of them staring at LA.

LA stared back. What the fuck was he suppose to say? He was happy for them, please don't have sex where he can find them?

"Uh," LA started, but stopped. He was literally speechless.

Chris took in a deep breath before saying, "'Sup." She winced when he voice croaked.

LA let out a strangled laugh. She was giving a guy a blow job. And she just croaked.

Danny continued to stand beside Chris looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"Business, huh?" LA finally managed, glancing from Chris to Danny.

Chris looked at Danny, her face flushing, before she turned to LA and shrugged. "Yes?"

"Right," LA said, running his hand through his hair. "Wow, okay. So, I'm happy you're happy? If you are happy that is. I, uh, I'm gonna go back out there. You should, you know, join me when ever. Wow."

LA exited the bathroom quickly, ignoring the fact that the two were kissing as he shut the door. The more you fucking know.

He sat down across from Lumbus and Ed, trying to fix the hair he had mused when he ran his hand through it.

"You okay?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I, yeah. I'm fine," LA said, confused as fuck.

Ed and Lumbus traded a look and LA internally cursed Chris. Cursed her for putting him in this situation and cursed her for making him cuss more than he liked.

Chris suddenly stumbled up to their booth. Her hair was slightly askew on top and her lips were red and puffy. Her cheeks were flushed as well. LA did his best not to wince.

"Where you been?" LA asked as casually as he could.

Chris sat down next to him, not meeting his eye. "Um, nowhere."

LA hummed, using his spoon to stir around his melted ice cream. Well, this plan was a bust.

Ed and Lumbus stood across from them, grabbing their jackets and back packs. LA blinked up at them, surprised at their sudden movement.

Lumbus wouldn't meet his eyes, keeping his gae on the table and his belongings. Ed looked angry for some reason, only meeting Lumbus' gaze when he looked upwards.

"Well, this was nice and all, but we gotta go," Ed stared bluntly, grabbing Lumbus' wrist and pulling him toward the exit.

"But don't you need a ride?" LA asked after them, struggling to get out of the booth with Chris in the way.

"We can walk!" Ed shouted back, leaving quickly, Lumbus in tow.

LA stood at the swinging door blankly. All he had wanted was to become friends with Lumbus again, possibly even more some day, if Lumbus ever felt up to it, and now everything was going to shit. He pushed his way out of the booth, ignoring Chris' protest as she almost fell.

"Dude," she shouted and ran after him. "What's your issue?"

"You!" LA yelled spinning around. "You urged me to bring them here, you say you'll help me break the ice, become their friend, and your off in the fucking bathroom, sucking Danny's dick!"

Chris' eyes widened and she hushed LA loudly.

"No! Screw you! You're supposed to be my friend! You're supposed to be there for me and your off being a fucking whore! Penny was right when she called you a slut Chris. I'm tired of your shit and you never helping me."

"L-"

"No! Just, get the fuck away from me. Walk hom for all I fucking care. Or better yet, get a ride from Danny, he might give you a nice tip if you're good enough." LA snarled, storming away from a crying Chris.

He was done. So fucking done.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was so not fucking done.

LA winced again, seeing Chris sitting across the cafeteria by herself. Next to her was a silent Danny, who would usually be either annoying Chris or Conney.

LA had fucked up and he knew it. He was so frustrated with dealing with Lumbus that he had taken it out on Chris. She wasn't that much or a whore anyway. Sure there were stories about her and a couple of guys. And a couple of girls, mostly about her and Vicky, but half of them weren't even true. He'd gotten angry and then taken it out on Chris, saying things he knew would make her feel horrible about herself.

He sighed even louder when he noticed Lumbus and Ed talking quietly to themselves at their usual table. Ed would glance between LA and Chris before saying something quietly to Lumbus. Lumbus would shake his head before Ed would do it again and the pattern kept repeating.

He turned away to see Bobbi resting her chin on her hand, staring at the wall. LA felt guilt suddenly hit him as he remembered hearing Marcel had just gotten with a new girlfriend, the first one since Bobbi and he had broken up. Penny sat across from him, eyes watery and red with Phil nowhere in sight.

LA groaned and let his head thunk against the table. This week was complete and utter shit.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He pulled up to Chris' house, parking and heading to the front door. He'd called ahead just in case no one was home. Mr. Chayton had answered, telling LA that he and Mrs. Chayton were headed out for date night, but that LA was welcome to come over for an hour or two.

He opened the door as quietly as he could and headed upstairs to where Chris' room was.

He argued over whether or not to knock when he suddenly heard quiet voices from the room.

"I just don't know what to do," Chris' voice said through the door.

"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," Danny's voice replied.

"It really isn't. We asked you not to tell LA about us; and that was wrong," another voice joined Danny's and Chris'.

LA frowned. What on earth?

"I just don't know what he'll say. He's my best friend, Couver," Chris said, her voice sounding miserable.

"We love you, Chay, and support you in your decision," the third voice whispered.

It suddenly occurred to LA that he was listening in on Vicky Conners talking to Chris about loving her. LA's brain short circuited. What?

"I love you guys, I do, but what if he doesn't accept me? That I love to people?"

"He will," Danny insisted, "just give him time. He's going through a tough time with Collin, right?"

Chris mumbled something LA couldn't hear, but it didn't matter as he was backing away from the door. He quickly, but quietly, made his way down stairs and outside. He felt angry and disappointed.

Angry, not at Chris, but at himself. He had made Chris feel like she couldn't tell him something. Something as important as he falling in love. LA didn't give a fuck if it was with one person, two people, or fifteen. Chris had gone through something amazing and LA had missed it.

Disappointed because he could've had that, but he was to scared to just come out and tell Lumbus. He been annoying his friends and bringing them down, making stupid plans, when he could've just manned up and fucking told Lumbus about his affection. The Lumbus could do was tell him no.

Determined, LA pulled out of Chris' driveway, destination locked into his mind.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So he might have chickened out.

LA had gone to Lumbus' house, beyond determined to tell Lumbus the truth. Then he saw Ed's car in the driveway and LA panicked.

LA sighed, his head resting against the trunk of their tree. The sky above him was dark, a storm on it's way. LA ignored the ominous clouds, preferring to watch the kids on the swing set a few yards away.

"LA?"

LA blinked and looked up to see Lumbus staring down at him. "Hey, Lumbus."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I...I had some stuff to think about. Thought I'd come some place quiet."

Lumbus shifted and paused for a moment before sitting down beside him. Neither spoke, the wind and laughter of kinds the only thing breaking the silence. LA fought the urge to glance at Lumbus.

"Why didn't you come?"

LA jumped slightly, startled. He turned to Lumbus, confusion clouding his features. "What?"

Lumbus didn't meet his gaze, just continued to stare down at his hands. "That day. I waited for you until dark. You never showed up."

LA's eyebrows raised, astonished. "You mean here? At our tree?"

Lumbus nodded, finally meeting his gaze. "You never showed up. You always had before. But... not that time."

LA gulped and looked down at his hands. This was probably his one and only chance to tell Lumbus how he felt, how LA had showed up, but had run once he heard Lumbus ask Ed out.

"I..." LA closed his mouth and said nothing. God, he was such a coward.

Lumbus suddenly growled, a sound LA had never head him make before.

"I don't understand!" Lumbus shouted, his hands balling into fists. "I thought you liked me! I thought... I was going to ask you out! I even made Ed let me practice on him, so I wouldn't sound like an idiot! But you never showed up! Then you started ignoring me and dating Christine! You finally start talking to me, hanging out with me, and then you just had to bring Christine along!"

LA stared at Lumbus as he ranted, his voice going high pitched and angry. Oh.

Oh.

LA grinned as Lumbus threw up his hands, clearly frustrated.

"What are you smiling about? It isn't-"

LA kissed Lumbus, just as he had wanted to only a year ago. Lumbus' lips were chapped, but LA didn't care. It was absolutely perfect.

"W-What?" Lumbus asked when LA pulled away, obviously dazed.

"I did show up. But you had brought Ed. I got here right when you were practicing on Ed. I thought you'd brought him to our special place to ask him out."

"You... You idiot," Lumbus said, punching him on the shoulder.

LA just grinned. This was the Lumbus he knew, not some shy kid, the firecracker who could blush and then kick you in the shin.

"Lumbus," LA said.

"You're such an idiot! We've wasted over a year being st-"

"Lumbus," LA tried again.

"-upid and we could've been happy and toget-"

"Lumbus!"

"What!?"

"I love you," LA said willing himself not to blush.

"That- Wait, what?" Lumbus stared at him with wide eyes, his cheeks turning from pink to red. "You, you do?"

"I, yeah," LA replied, stuttering out a reply.

LA blinked once and the next thing he knew he had Lumbus on top of him, kissing him. And it wasn't like the kiss they had just shared, oh no, it was dirty. Lumbus was using his tongue in a very creative way and LA spent about one second being jealous over whoever taught him how to do that before he got with the program and kissed back.

They kissed underneath their tree for what seemed to be forever before LA finally pulled away, something occurring to him.

"Holy shit," he said, his hand still tangled in Lumbus' hair.

"What?" Lumbus asked, sounding out of it.

"I have to tell, Chris!" LA stood, heading toward where he had parked his car. When he had gotten out of the car, he had left his phone in the glove compartment. Maybe letting her be the first to know would help him throw in the apology he owed her.

"What- LA!"

LA cursed and ran back, leaning over to give Lumbus another deep kiss. He pulled away only a little, whispered, "I love you," before turning and running off again.

Lumbus' laugh echoed behind him.

He had been wrong, LA realized. This month had turned out pretty damn spectacular.

**Author's Note:**

> hahahahahahahahHAHAHAH Could you guess what person was what team? Should I post who is who? HAHAHAHAHAHA No, the Chicago/Detroit/Vancouver thing was not necessary. made no sense in the story and took away from the main plot but you know what? I fucking ship it. Love/Hate relationship. I kinda wanna write a Phil/Penny sequel though, just _because_...
> 
> (EDIT: Read this while you can if you want. After some very graphic anon hate over on tumblr, im taking it down. I'll leave it up for a day or two at most. its not well written and im sry for that. thanks anyway))


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